Metallic railway-tie



(No Model.)

T. R. DUNNING. METALLIC RAILWAY TIE.

Patented Apr. 21, 1891;

92 6273 Scs:

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE R. DUNNING, OF MIDDL 1TO\YN, NElV YORK.

M ETALLIC RAI LWAY-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Ratent No. 450,739, dated April21, 1891.

Application filed December 17, 1890. Serial No. 375,054. (No model.)

To on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE R. DUNNING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Middletown, in the county of Orange and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Ties andRail- Fastenings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertaius to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Like letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My invention relates to metallic railwayties and the means of securingrails thereto; and it has for its object to improve the construction ofmetallic ties and the means heretofore adopted for securing the rails.

To this end the invention consists in the construction and arrangementand combination of parts more fully pointed out hereinafter, andafterward defined by the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of arailway-tie embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a section of the tie,showing the double clamp and the manner in which it rests on the beam ofthe tie. Fig. 3 is the double spring-steel wedge for holding theclamp-heads on the rail-flanges. Fig. 4 is the flanged rail-brace to beused on curves of the road.

The tie is made of a plate of steel or other metal,whichis bent to forman inverted trough at each end and an open trough in the mid dle of thetie. The ends T are flanged vertically, and the parts W are flanged atan angle of about forty-five degrees. The edges of the top table A areflanged nearly vertical at N, and the sloping parts \V have theircorners P flanged, so as to rest on the flanges N. Before the plate isbent the openings E are made for the necks of the clamp, the openings orslots X for the I-beam to rest in.

The double clamp shown in Fig. 2 may be cast of malleable metal orturned from a bar of steel. The clamp is placed by inverting the plate A13 A and then inserting the clampheads into the openings E. Then theI-beam is inserted into the openings X, and by sprin iug the table A atrifle the beam is carried through all the openings X until the notchesR inclose the clamp. The E opening on the outer side of the rail is sothat when the neck of the clamp is therein and the rail-flange isagainst it the ordinary gage is attained; but if any variation of gageis desired, as on curves, clamps with necks of a different thickness areprovided. \Vhen the fish-joint flange projects over the rail-flange,such ties have their openings wider apart. The rail is laid by swingingback the clamp-head on the inner side of the rail and pushing therail-flange under and against the outer clam p-head, after which theinner clamp-head is swung back again until it engages the innerrail-flange, when the wedge is driven into the opening behind the clamp-head, so that it is held firmly. The spring-steel wedge, of one-fourthinch thickness, will cause its endsJ J to spring apart with such poweras to hold its place firmly in the opening. It will be understood thatthe opening E on the outer side of the rail is deep and wide beneath therail limits, and that the notch R is a little wider than the clamp, soas to permit the inner clamphead to be swung backward. The center of theclamp is thin where it rests in the notch R. Clamps, when fish-jointsare used, may have longer necks. A tie of this type has valuablefeatures, in that the beam distributes the weight partially 011 thebottom 13; but mostly it is distributed in a general manner over the topof the trough A. The central trough when filled with ballast will givethe desired weight.

This type of tie may have its parts A B A made of very light metal.

Having thus described my invention and set forth its merits, what Iclaim to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The tie forming the inverted troughs A A,in combination with thecentralopen trough B, and having the three troughs A, A, and B parallelto the line 0 O,and with the vertical ends T and sloping parts XV,having the long vertical slots or openings X, adapted to receive an I orvertical beam, and with the ends T and the top parts A and the slopingparts W and the bottom 13 made of one piece of metal, substantially asset forth.

2. The double clamp O H O, with its heads O 0 adapted to engage therail-flanges at right angles, while said heads 0 0 project obliquely ordiagonally from the central part H, and being made of one piece ofmetal, substantially as described.

3. The double clamp C H O,With its heads 0 0 adapted to engage therail-flanges at right angles, and being made of one piece of metal,substantially as described.

4. lhe combination of the tie with the beam in the openings X and withthe openings E, formed in aline diagonal to the line 0 O, and with theinner opening E describing part of a circle, and with the central partII of the clamp bearing against the under side of the tie in a coursediagonal to the line 0 O, and with the clamp having the necks of theclamp- THEODORE R. DUNNING.

Witnesses:

JOHN C. R. TAYLOR, ARCHIBALD TAYLOR.

